The Return of the Light

It has been a long, wet winter.

We had repeated ice storms, and wind strong enough to tear shingles off my roof.  I have had a rough time of it this year.  I tend to have trouble getting through the last few months of the winter anyway, and this year's crappy events- from the election of an idiot to the death of my father- have made getting through it all the more arduous.  

Spring has come late.  While looking at photographs of my garden in years past, I have noticed how delayed the season is.  For example, my asian pear was in full bloom on March 21st a few years ago.  This year, it didn't reach full bloom until mid-April.  

I have probably never been so glad to see the spring flowers come up in my garden.  As the days grow longer and I spend more time out in the garden, it is almost like I can feel life flowing back into my body.  

Even though it is still almost as rainy as it is in the middle of the winter, I adore the longer daylight hours.  My drive home from work is through a river canyon which is shady and dark in the winter.  One day I counted ten waterfalls on my drive home, however. 

Last week, as I was driving through the river canyon, a flash of yellow jumped out at me from the cliff beside the road.  It looked quite similar to the bright yellow foliage of various landscaping shrubs around town, so I didn't really  notice it at first.  At some point over the next few days, I realized that it was growing out of the side of the cliff- not near anyone's yard or garden.

Today I stopped.  

It is a Philadelphus lewisii- our native mock orange.  As a kid, this was one of my favorite plants; its heavy, sweet fragrance was bewitching.  (Oh fuck- I used one of those words that fluffy garden writers use.  I fucking hate that style of writing.  Gross.)  

While there are plenty of cultivars of the Eurasian species of Philadelphus, there are not many of our native species.  I'm cautiously optimistic about this plant.  The foliage is luminous- it grabs your attention from the side of the road.  There is always the chance that the plant is sick, however.  I don't remember seeing herbicides being sprayed on that road, but I may have failed to notice.  Sometimes I've seen plants develop a sickly yellow color after they've survived 

This plants looks pretty healthy, however.  

I took cuttings and stuck them this evening.  If it takes, I may name it something cheesy but fitting, such as 'Return of Light'.

Wish me luck.